Can't actually *finish* games

[Connor Sinulf]

Longtime lurker here, posting for the first time. Hello fellow CIV fans!

I wanted to make sure I wasn't crazy - or to confirm that I am. I have over 250 hours playing CIV 5. It's a great game. I've been a fan of the CIV series since I was a kid.

But I've always had trouble finishing games. I always do well, get a 200-300 turns in, save the game... and promptly forget about it. Then I decide to start a new game, because, well, new games are more exciting, right?

So eventually I have 10+ saved games that I delete for the sake of keeping order. ALL MUST GO! And the process starts anew.

Anyone else do this? I'm about to do it again right now

 

[Adam7Eight]

You are not alone. I probably only finish about 10% of my Civ games.

Welcome to the forums!

 

[Connor Sinulf]

You are not alone. I probably only finish about 10% of my Civ games.

Welcome to the forums!

Haha, thanks Cyber. Good to know I'm not crazy!

 

[Tabarnak]

Beating the game is not difficult. Beating your best time is difficult. If you aim for that, your fun can last until the end. Play competitively with other players, compare your games, your strategies, etc.

Otherwise i agree with you.

 

[General Tso]

Beating the game is not difficult. Beating your best time is difficult. If you aim for that, your fun can last until the end. Play competitively with other players, compare your games, your strategies, etc.

Otherwise i agree with you.

All good points. I also use the "beat the best time" idea to give me something to go for. Another thing that I like to do is try and beat my high score for a given victory type. Since your final high score is tied to how quickly you win the game the two objectives are somewhat compatible.

 

[snarzberry]

When I'm in a position that I know I can't lose I'll often stop, unless I'm on a really fast time or that game is interesting or fun in some unusual way. Domination games I tend to finish about a half of the time that I actually get myself into an unassailable position. Isolated science games have become very dull for me as they are so cookie-cutter, most of the time if I'm on a map where I think that is the best way to play I will go through the motions for a while become bored and re roll.

 

[ense7en]

My favorite part of the game is the very beginning, when everything is unknown, and exciting.

I do finish a lot of games, but there are many i never finish if things don't look good around turns 50-100, as a good start is imperative at higher difficulties i find.

 

[wannabewarlord]

Amen to that, OP. Same here. The beginning is exciting. The discovery, the race for wonders, the first skirmishes, etc. After a while, it all becomes stale. Positions are set, your way to victory has been decided and mvoing around dozens of units become a drag.

I like Tabarnak's idea going for best time, earliest win, etc. I should really try that.

The worst part of my problem is, however, the limited time I have for games. Rarely can I finish a game in one setting, so I need to save and pick it up a few days later. By that point I have forgotten where I was at, what I wanted to do and so on. So starting a new game is easier than trying to pick up loose ends *sigh*.

And yes, I clean my savegames almost obsessively. I have even started to use one Quicksave state only

 

[JeanBaptiste]

Agree with the OP, I have loads of unfinished, "already won" games. The early stages and especially the medieval and renaissance eras are the most interesting. Then it gets too static and easy, even on Deity....

It's fun though to try to beat your own times and scores, however you have to compare the different civs on their own. Or at least take out the mongols. I don't think I have any other game that could match the best time and score I have achieved with the power of the Keshik.

 

[bozosmithy]

too many games to count that i dont finnish as like other people i have already won kind of games that meh no fun or challange to go back to

 

[MisterBoomBoom]

If they would only ADD interesting things later in the game eras that would be a major boost to the game. New resources to be fought over, quests to be completed, again even bringing back random events might help. creation of the UN should not "end" a game (economic victories anyone!?) but should serve as an enhancer that throws new challenges at the player in the industrual era. For example: allowing a previously defeated civ new life via a UN vote/requested military action or even via revolt of the occupied cities. or bring about natural disasters that require aide...or even bring on a Zombie apocalypse requiring use of those armies other than the usual steamrolling domination victory.

And lastly ....just look at the pathetic tech tree (especially entering the Industrial Era) boring to the tenth degree no? Just add some meaningful depth PLEASE. Meanwhile ...I am enjoying NiGHTS ...thank you Modders everywhere for helping this game along. Nothing but love for ya!

 

[eris]

I believe I am in a tiny minority in that I finish almost every game I play if it is not completely hopeless. Hopeless is looked at as exercise in analysis similar to find mate in three in chess. The clearest case is having lost more cities than I can possibly recover and I usually play a couple extra turns to try some miracle move or confirm it was as bad as I thought. Otherwise, we play 'til the end of history. Else, why bother?

I now consider it somewhat compulsive behavior on my part. I was originally shocked to learn on the forums that it wasn't how most others play, but I have decided you are all decent people anyway.

 

[Proximus]

I always play until the technologies run out. At that point I'm yearning to explore since Satellites pretty much gets rid of that aspect of the game entirely. They really squandered the potential of the space age.

Once the technologies run out and there's nowhere to explore, nothing to discover and nothing to do but settle and do battle the game is 90% less fun for me, so I usually quit at that point, regardless of number of turns.

 

[Gucumatz]

There are many things that are fun. Try playing multiplayer! No bad AI and you can encounter real diplomacy. I always try and manipulate my human opponents into fights vs each other, pacts to my benefit, etc.

 

[Soronery]

Theres not much point in finishing games that are already decided. Personally, I like playing SP and trying out different strategies and such.

 

[Derpy Hooves]

Playing in my usual aggressive manner I can't say I ever finish one these days anymore, usually when I double to triple everyones score and am ahead at least 10 techs or so I'll just quit because it feels like squashing ants.

Besides, it's not like the victory screens are worth it, I get more enjoyment looking at how badly I was murdering everyone in the graphs.

 

[Connor Sinulf]

Beating the game is not difficult. Beating your best time is difficult. If you aim for that, your fun can last until the end. Play competitively with other players, compare your games, your strategies, etc.

This is a great idea. I'll be sure to keep this in mind during my next couple play-throughs.

Besides, it's not like the victory screens are worth it, I get more enjoyment looking at how badly I was murdering everyone in the graphs.

Ain't that the truth? I play through hundreds of turns for 4-5 hours and... the victory screen slaps me in the face! I do enjoy the graphs like you mentioned; I'll glance through them all.

 

[Louis XXIV]

A long time ago (I think Civ3), I almost never finished games. These days, I'm more goal oriented, so I finish most. There's an occasional sporadic game that is abandoned. Mostly it has to do with not starting well so, while I could go through the motions, there's no clear path to actually finishing it.

Right now, I'm making it a goal to play with every Civ once. I have one lingering game with Russia to deal with at some point or I might start a new game with Russia, but I'll definitely play with them eventually. In the meantime, I ended up playing and winning as Egypt instead.

 

[rondo]

Count me in amongst the "bloody victory screen" crowd. Don't really need confirmation on what was decided plenty of turns back.

I do roughly finish 50% of my games - mostly domination.

 

[Aldor]

I finish most games I start (unless abandoning them very early already). Lately, I've been playing Settler games, and its amazing how quickly one can blaze through these with standard settings (<2h in the best case). The AI and the city states just build much fewer units and I think that really helps with the turn speed, and so ultimately the time to finish the game.

Then again I'm probably odd because I don't play Civ much for the challenge, but rather for the role playing and empire building. Not so much for the warring aspect.